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Colin still hadn’t gotten a word in. He had very mixed feelings about working with Rotelle Entertainment. Even so, he didn’t want to dampen morale, so he added his good news to the excitement. “I have something that could help with that.”
Both his employees turned to him with blank eyes, as if they’d forgotten he was even there.
“What was that?” Kim said with a confused frown.
Colin chuckled, shaking his head. “Do you remember where I was this morning?”
“Where you were? You never tell us where you’re going—” Ethan gasped. “Jeannie Choi.”
“Spill it, Colin. You can’t keep us in suspense any longer.” Kim looked at him like a puppy hungry for a treat.
“I was keeping you in suspense? You guys wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise.”
“Come on, boss,” Ethan said. “Stop teasing us.”
He sighed in resignation. Hyped up, Ethan and Kim were an unstoppable duo. “She agreed to sign an option with us for Best Placed Bets.”
Much screaming and a group hug ensued. Colin extracted himself and got down to business. “All right. Give me the coherent version of Rotelle Entertainment’s search for a partner. Are they looking in their capacity as a studio, or are they planning to coproduce the film, as well?”
He ran his fingers through his hair and listened to Kimberly’s recap of Rotelle Entertainment’s search for a production company with whom to coproduce a film, which they would then distribute in theaters nationwide. It was a golden opportunity for CS Productions, but goddammit, why Rotelle?
The Song and Park families had a troubled history. The chairman of Rotelle Corporation and his grandmother had arranged for his daughter, Jihae Park, to marry Colin’s cousin, but the engagement was broken when Garrett married the woman he loved instead. In retribution, Rotelle had orchestrated a corporate espionage scheme against Hansol, nearly causing Garrett to lose his CEO position and his wife, Natalie. Colin wholeheartedly despised Rotelle Corporation for that.
But he couldn’t put his personal grudge ahead of his duty to his company. CS Productions deserved this chance. Ethan and Kimberly deserved it. Unfortunately, from what he’d heard, Jihae Park was the creative head of Rotelle Entertainment. Perhaps he’d luck out and find that she’d stayed in Korea and sent her second-in-command to the United States.
“What’s the catch?” Colin said.
Maybe the Rotelle name made him paranoid, but the deal sounded too good to be true. With a great story like Jeannie’s Best Placed Bets, and the clout of a well-funded production company and studio, it meant they really had a chance at coproducing the best romantic comedy out there.
“There isn’t one. Their VP, Jihae Park, has great ambitions for Rotelle’s Hollywood debut, and she wants a production company that knows the lay of the land,” Kimberly said with a shrug.
So much for his wishful thinking. If they got the partnership, he would have to work closely with Jihae Park. And often. Hell. That was going to complicate things. But that was his problem to deal with.
“We should move quickly on this,” he said, heading toward his office. “I want our proposal in front of Ms. Park before the end of the week.”
“Consider it done,” Ethan replied, high-fiving Kimberly. “We got this.”
Colin closed his office door and leaned his head on it. No one knew that he was Grace Song’s grandson. He had no social-media presence other than for his businesses, and he only attended private family affairs. He shouldn’t have to make an exception for Jihae Park and reveal his relationship to the Song family. His family had nothing to do with CS Productions, and he wanted to be judged for who he was, not whom he was related to.
However, if Jihae Park found out who he was, it could jeopardize their project. She would probably misunderstand, and believe that he had deliberately kept his identity a secret from her. People like her believed the world revolved around them, didn’t they?
Wait. If he was already taking a risk—why not take another? The partnership could give him an opportunity to find new evidence about Rotelle’s role in the espionage. Garrett had had their PI investigate Rotelle when they first got wind of foul play, but there were only suggestions of their involvement. It wasn’t enough to prosecute them, especially since their pawn had disappeared to God knew where.
Colin sat heavily on his chair and ran his hand down his face. His meeting with Jeannie Choi felt like ages ago, and the elation of that win had faded into a faint sense of accomplishment. One thing was clear—he wanted CS Productions to partner with Rotelle Entertainment for its success and growth, and for the opportunity to repay his family for all they’d done for him. But he dreaded the partnership for himself. He had no wish to spend long working hours with a spoiled, conniving heiress, and the idea of spying on someone made his skin crawl.
He had a feeling this partnership—if they got it—was going to be a dream come true and a complete nightmare.
Two
“So how many interviews do I have left this week?” Jihae asked in Korean to June, her right-hand woman and a trusted friend.
They were sitting side by side on Jihae’s office sofa and having a much-needed cup of coffee.
“You’ll be interviewing Colin Song from CS Productions today, and Green Grass Productions on Friday,” June said.
Jihae’s heart immediately switched into high gear at the mention of Colin Song’s name. It turned out the handsome producer and his production company were a good fit for Rotelle Entertainment. Even so, she was hesitant about approaching him because of her obvious attraction to him. But before she could decide what to do, CS Productions had applied for the partnership of their own accord.
She still couldn’t help but feel conflicted about the whole thing. CS Productions was a strong candidate. But...why did the man have to be so unreasonably attractive? Just don’t be biased one way or another. Looks had no bearing on a business decision.
